Dance with Me
by FrecklesXOXO
Summary: Leena was a girl with nothing to lose and willing to risk it all; Raphael was a guy who thought he had what he needed but found there was something more he wanted. Neither could have foreseen how much they would change each other's worlds. But when a dangerous plot threatens their lives, Raphael must decide if the dance of love is worth the risk. M-Language/Adult Content/Violence
1. Mutant Encounters

Hi all! Thanks for being curious enough to check out my first fan fiction story on here! I'm looking forward to writing this story as I just started to get back into TMNT and remembering why I loved it so much as a kid. This story is going to be pretty much a basic fun story of the Turtles and my own OC Leena! Mostly for laughs, aws and a few OMG moments. :D It doesn't really specify when the story takes place (as it's not really necessary to the story) though it does specify that the Turtles are older by a few years; I'm thinking about 18.

**Thanks for reading and please leave me a review/comment about what you think of the story so far! I always love to hear from my readers as it is what helps keep me going! Remember, constructive comments and thoughts are welcome, flames are not!**

**Update:** Ok, so this story may develop a bit more than I originally had in mind. Mostly because of my non-stop brainstorming and plotting. Lol. SO this may end up getting a bit of drama added in, a bit of a deeper plot, some interesting/fun twists might show up and I may even add a few more OCs to this too. I hope anyone reading this will stay with me as I begin to really lay out this story! Please, comment, favorite, follow, share with friends! You, my readers, are what keep me motivated to write!

**I DO NOT OWN THE NINJA TURTLES, so sad, OR ANY OF THE ASSOCIATED CHARACTERS THAT GO WITH IT NOR AM I MAKING ANY MONEY OFF OF THIS STROY! I merely own my OCs that you will see in this story. **

Alright, now that that's out of the way, ENJOY!

* * *

**Chapter 1: Mutant Encounters**

* * *

"Dude, Raph, you know Master Splinter won't be happy about this."

"Shut it Mikey, it's not like I had much of a choice."

"You could have left her there technically, it's not like the Foot Clan would want her."

"Donnie, they saw her with me, ya know they would have taken her just for that reason."

"All of you, what's done is done and she's here so we might as well just figure out what to do about the situation moving forward. Obviously we'll have to talk to Master Splinter about this, but for now, let's just wait for her to wake up."

"Always the voice of reason Leo."

"What if she freaks out?"

"Well Raph is the scariest looking one of all of us so if he didn't scare her…"

"She didn't see me, she ran into my shell and that knocked her out cold."

"Oh man Raph, you sure have a way with woman!"

Leena could hear the voices of four young men around her, but for the moment she was still relatively incapacitated. She could tell that she was lying down on something, most likely a couch, and that she had a pretty bad headache. Moaning slightly, she shifted her place a bit and felt more of her consciousness returning.

"Sssshhh, dudes, I think she's waking up!"

"Mikey calm down, it's not like you haven't seen a girl before."

"Well, not one this cute and not in our lair up close and personal."

"Except for April…"

"Yeah, but Donnie's got dibs on April anyway."

"I don't have dibs on her Mikey, she's a person. You can't dibs a person."

Whoever was standing around her certainly liked to talk and from what she could make out, there were four of them all together. Her eyes fluttered slightly, her vision blurred and somewhat dark. Blinking her bright blue eyes a few more times, she could finally make things out a bit better and she could tell that she was inside and looking up at a high ceiling.

"She's awake!'

"Shut up Mikey, I don't think she'll appreciate you yelling when she just woke up."

"Raphael, chill."

Leena finally felt awake enough to sit up and take a good look at her surroundings so she slowly pushed herself up, leaning back on her elbows and finally taking a look at the guys who had been talking over her. For a moment, everything was silent as her brain tried to make sense of just what exactly she was looking at. Standing around the end of the couch she was on were what looked like four green men in different colored headbands, but after a few moments of really looking at them, Leena realized they actually looked like giant humanoid turtles… with headbands.

"Good morning!" The orange banded turtle greeted happily, waving at Leena enthusiastically. Leena simply stared back at him dumbfounded. After a few moments of utter silence, the four of them staring at her and she staring back, Leena rubbed a hand over her eyes as if trying to wipe away the image in front of her.

"I must have hit my head a lot harder than I thought…" She mumbled. Taking a deep breath, she let her hand fall away from her face and she stared at the weird humanoid turtles again. "Yup, hit my head really hard." She nodded her head as if to agree with herself, her black hair spilling over her shoulders in a tumble of curls as she did so.

"Your head's fine." The red banded turtle huffed, his arms crossed over his chest.

"Raph, I'm sure this is a lot for her to take in, be nice." The blue banded turtle said, causing the other glare at him a bit. The blue turtle turned his attention back to Leena then, stepping forward and smiling slightly. "What he means is, we know that looking at us you might feel like you're dreaming or hallucinating but we're very real."

"Mutant turtles to be specific." The purple banded turtle added in with a grin of his own.

"Yeah that just got way more weird and specific." Leena replied, her face taking on a look of anxiety as she continued to stare at them.

"But we're totally awesome dudette! No need to freak!" The orange one chimed in, coming up to lean on the shoulder of the blue banded turtle.

"Totally weird." Leena replied, not even sure what she should think about the whole situation. Her reply brought a small chuckle from the purple banded turtle and a smirk from the red one. At this point, It was very easy for Leena to think she'd simply gone totally crazy, but a small part of her was rather fascinated by the fact that this could possibly be very real.

"I guess we might as well introduce ourselves since this can't possibly get any more awkward." The blue banded turtle spoke up, pushing the orange banded turtle off his shoulder. "My name's Leonardo, and these are my brothers."

"I'm Michelangelo!" The Orange banded one said enthusiastically.

"My name is Donatello." The purple banded turtle said with a grin.

"Raphael." The red banded turtle added in gruffly.

"Um, nice to meet you all?" Leena said hesitantly, silently saying each of the names over again as she looked them, her lips forming each name as her gaze locked on to each one.

"And your name is…?" Leena's attention snapped over to the red banded turtle named Raphael when his voice, sounding somewhat irritated, interrupted her thoughts.

"Oh, my name's Leena." She replied back, still sounding somewhat distracted.

"Leena, that's pretty." Michelangelo grinned, coming forward and leaning his hands on the couch arm.

"Thank you… I like all of your names too, are they all based on old artists and inventors?" She asked, causing Leonardo to smile in response.

"You would be correct."

"I'm actually surprised that I'm not freaking out more right now… given the circumstances." She said suddenly, moving so that she was sitting up on the couch and not leaning on her elbows.

"I think we're just as surprised." Leo replied.

"Though, I'm not sure how much of this has all really sunk in for me, so that may explain it." Leena continued, looking over at Leonardo with a small smile. "I guess it really can't be helped though I mean, at least you aren't mean or trying to hurt me or something."

"Nah, we're more like good guys! It was Raph who helped you out when you lost consciousness! Though, it was kinda his fault you got knocked out to begin with…" Raphael smacked Mickey in the back of the head at that point.

"I remember running around a corner and smacking me head into something hard."

"That was, uh, my shell you slammed into." Raphael replied, his voice sounding a bit sheepish before he instantly changed his tune to something tougher. "Though you really should have been paying attention to where you were going." Leena raised an eyebrow at him and then laughed.

"You're probably right. I was in a bit of hurry so I didn't really think about running into someone in my haste." She laughed again.

"Well, are you hungry? Cause I'm feeling like pizza would be good right now." Mickey said happily, grinning at Leena who laughed again.

"Sure, pizza sounds awesome. I'll get to cross eating pizza with Mutant turtles off my bucket list."

"Whoa, you really have that as a to-do on your bucket list?" Mickey asked. He sounded so sincerely surprised that Leena couldn't but help but laugh again, shaking her head.

"No, it's not; I was just making a joke because of how odd this whole situation is. I mean, it really is kind of funny." She explained.

"Yeah, I can see how this would seem pretty funny." Donatello spoke up, his own face cracking into a wide grin. Mickey was the next to start chuckling while Leo grinned and even Raph managed to smirk a bit.

"Alright let's order some pizza!" Mickey cheered, heading off towards the kitchen. The other turtles began to follow after him and it was Raph, bringing up the rear, who turned back and walked over to Leena, holding out his hand.

"You comin?" He asked. Leena smiled up at him and without hesitation, took his hand with her own.

"Yes I am."


	2. Be Our Guest

Chapter 2 is up! I'm going to try to commit to AT LEAST 1 chapter every month! If I can get more in a month then I will, but I will hopefully be able to stick to once a month posting for sure! Anyway, so after writing this chapter I realized I was taking an approach to the characters that more resembled the 2012 universe, but like, a few years later, where the turtles have grown up and all that. I am taking a few liberties though and I'll be adding some stuff I liked about the Turtles from the 2003-2007 Universe, including the TMNT movie. So I hope you guys enjoy the new chapter.

**As Always, thanks for reading and please leave me a review/comment about what you think of the story so far! I always love to hear from my readers as it is what helps keep me going! Remember, constructive comments and thoughts are welcome, flames are not! **

**Update:** As the new 2012 Universe is still unfinished, I may take a few liberties with characters and such as far as who is still around, relationships... that sort of thing. Creative story license and all.

* * *

**Chapter 2: Be Our Guest**

* * *

Together with the turtle brothers, Leena had headed into the kitchen and four large pizzas of various types ordered. Wanting to be considerate of their guest, Mikey had been sure to find out what Leena liked on her pizza and was surprised when all she had requested was a simple pineapple pizza.

"That's all you want on your pizza? Pineapple? No ham or pepperoni or anything?" He had sounded like it was the end of the world when he said it. Leena giggled lightly and nodded her head, shrugging her shoulders as she explained.

"I like pizza simple, Cheese and pineapple is perfect for me."

"Okaaaay, as long as that makes you happy." Mikey replied with a grin.

"You know what would make me happy? Pizzas without weird ass ingredients like skittles or imitation crab." Raph added, glaring at Mikey who continued to grin.

"Yeah Mikey, can we get like, a three-meat pizza and call it a done deal?" Leonardo asked, sitting down at the table.

"Man, you guys are no fun. Pizza is only good when you customize it with all your favorite stuff!"

"Mikey, what you call customized I think the rest of us would call overdoing it." Donatello replied wearily. Mikey let out a huff and pulled out his T-phone to place the order.

"Fine! I'll just get one special pizza for myself and the rest of you can enjoy your boring pizzas." Leena watched the exchange between the four of them in amusement, noting that despite being mutant turtles, they did act like a bunch of young guys, no different from ordinary humans. It was probably that thought that allowed Leena's anxiety over what they were to completely disappear. As Michelangelo placed the pizza order, Donatello took a seat at the table next to Leonardo while Raphael moved to lean against a nearby counter, arms crossed over his chest. Leonardo motioned for Leena to come take a seat at the table with them and as soon as Michelangelo had finished placing the order, he too sat down at the table.

At this point, all the attention was suddenly focused on Leena as the turtles looked at her, all of them obviously curious to know about their sudden guest. Leena smiled sheepishly around at all of them, unsure if she liked this sudden focus of attention on herself and much more interested in learning about the turtle brothers instead.

"So Leena, how old are you?" Mikey was the first to bring a question to the table, leaning forward on his elbows to grin at her.

"I'll be nineteen in October." She replied, leaning back in her chair.

"Tell us a bit about yourself; it's not often we have guests, as you can imagine." Leonardo said with a chuckle.

"Um, ok, that's a bit vague so I guess I'll summarize?" She replied with a laugh. "Well, I'm living on my own, I recently graduated from High School though I had hoped to go straight to College to study dance but it's a bit too expensive for me to afford right now, so I'm trying to save up. I've danced since I was four, so I'm well-trained in all styles of dance, and I have a dream of being a professional dancer. I like dogs, my astrological sign is Scorpio, my favorite color is Mint, I don't like broccoli but I love cucumbers, my favorite food is pasta and I'm terrified of enclosed spaces."

"Claustrophobic?" Donatello asked.

"Terribly so." Leena replied.

"What's your favorite dance style?" Leonardo asked next.

"Ballet; it's difficult and requires the most discipline but I think it's one of the most beautiful dance styles. I think Lyrical would be my next favorite, though I tend to mix the two together when I dance. Sort of, my own style that I've developed over the years."

"What sort of dog would you get if you could have any dog in the whole world?" Mikey asked.

"I would love to have a white husky girl with blue eyes."

"What would you name her?" Mikey replied.

"Don't know, I'd have to see her first. Name's come better after you've seen the dog I think."

"Agreed! Though, if you ever get one, you should let me help you name it, cause I'm awesome at naming stuff." Mikey sounded particularly proud of that skill as he said it.

"I'll make sure I do." Leena replied with a smile.

"Sweet!"

"Do you like science or anything technical?" Donatello followed up.

"Well, I was always good at Biology in school, but when it comes to technical stuff I'm not all that great. I can work a computer at least."

"How about video games?" Leonardo questioned.

"Well, I've never really been able to play many video games but I do like single player RPGs."

"Cool, you should play with us! We have a couple of really fun games here." Leonardo replied.

"Why were you running through such a stingy back alley earlier?" Raph suddenly asked, looking at Leena inquisitively. Everyone looked at Leena as she went quiet for a moment, obviously thrown by Raphael's sudden interest in what had happened earlier that day."

"Oh, um, I was running late, to an audition, actually." She replied somewhat hesitantly; she sounded like she didn't want to talk about it.

"An audition? For like a show or something? That's awesome! Did you make it?" Mikey asked.

"Yeah, it was an audition for a Broadway show, and because I was running late I decided to take a shortcut through the back streets to get there. But, obviously I didn't make it." She laughed lightly. "I wasn't paying attention and knocked myself out apparently." She shook her head.

"Right, that's a bummer. Sorry you missed your audition." Mikey looked a bit crestfallen for her and Leena smiled appreciatively at him.

"It's ok, things happen for a reason in my opinion and if I hadn't run into Raphael, I wouldn't have ended up here talking with all of you and being invited for pizza." She grinned, easily moving the subject on to something else. The guys didn't seem to really notice much, though Raphael was still a bit standoff-ish, as if he wasn't completely convinced with her explanation.

"So what about you guys? I mean, I get that your mutant turtles and all, but where did you come from and how have you managed to stay hidden from the public this long?" Leena asked, turning the tables and asking them questions.

"Well, it's a bit of a long story…" Leonardo began.

"And it all began about eighteen years ago when our Master and father, Splinter, bought us in a pet store and accidentally dropped us in a strange substance we call ooze." Donatello picked up. He began to explain to Leena their long journey from baby turtles to mutants. Leena listened with rapt attention, obviously fascinated. They only paused for a moment when Mikey left to go grab the pizza from the delivery guy. Once he returned and everyone had grabbed a couple of slices to eat, Donatello had continued the tale.

"So you guys know ninjitsu because of your Master, who is also like your father since he raised you, and he was a human but now he's a mutant rat and you were all transformed by this weird alien substance called ooze that was brought here by an invading alien race called the Kraang?" Leena summarized, biting into her pizza.

"That's right. Sounds super crazy but it's the truth." Leonardo replied, setting down his pizza for a moment. "We've been using our skills to help keep New York City safe over the years, but for the most part we've lived in solitude in the sewers."

"You know, looking around at this place, I would have thought it was some industrial building converted into a large condo or something, but knowing that this place is somewhere in the sewer and you guys made it was it is; that's impressive."

"Thanks!" Came the collective reply.

"I still think it's crazy to know you guys have done so much to help keep our city safe and barely anyone knows about you and all that hard work you've put into it." Leena went on, looking to all of them. "I know how tough it is to work hard at something and be proud of what you've done but never receive any recognition for it… I don't know how you've done it for all these years."

"We don't need thanks for what we've done; knowing that we could help and then doing so was enough. This is our city too, even if we live in the sewers, and we want to keep it safe for everyone." Leonardo replied with a smile.

"Well, on behalf of everyone living above you in this city, thanks." Leena smiled, earning a round of smiles from everyone, except Raphael, in return.

"So, who wants to play some video games?" Mikey asked.


	3. It's a Hard-Knock Life

CHAPTER 3! I DID IT! Lol. Sorry for such a late update everyone! My summer math class started this month and the summer musical I'm in went through Tech week and opening this month. Plus with my work schedule I've been just a LITTLE bit busy. BUT, to make up for it, this chapter is a lot longer for your reading enjoyment! You get to learn a bit more about Leena's life in this chapter!

Also, I have a couple updates! Someone asked me if I would be pairing Donatello up with an OC and I can assure all who are reading my story that due to my recent brainstorming and imagination, I will be pairing up all the boys with an OC. And I can tell you I've had sooo much fun coming up with the OCs for each of the boys. They are all very different from each other and will compliment the boys well I think. For this story you'll only be meeting them in passing, but I will have a few small spin-off stories (Which I'm already working on) that will detail the other OCs' and their romances with the boys! So please look forward to that!

**As Always, thanks for reading and please leave me a review/comment about what you think of the story so far! I always love to hear from my readers as it is what helps keep me going! Remember, constructive comments and thoughts are welcome, flames are not!**

* * *

**Chapter 3: It's a Hard-Knock Life**

* * *

"No dude, don't go around that corner, you're gonna die!" Mikey sat on the floor next to Leo, a ball of tension as he watched Leo play a zombie game they had recently acquired, looking like he was about to fly off the floor in his excitement.

"Mikey, chill. It's my turn to play and I'll play the way I want to play!" Leo snapped back, his own irritation starting to rise with Mikey's backseat playing. Donatello glanced up from the gadget he was currently working on, a smirk slipping across his face before he returned his full attention back to his work. Leena was sitting on the back of the couch, watching the guys play, Raphael sitting just blow her on the couch and leaning against an arm rest.

"OH MY GOD LEO LOOK OUT!" Mikey yelled, jumping to his feet as zombies came running straight at the screen.

"I SEE IT, I SEE IT! BE QUIET!" Leo shouted back, wildly hitting buttons to try and take down the zombies rushing his character. Leena couldn't help but chuckle as she watched the scene unfold, leaning forward to rest her chin in her hands.

"Is it like this every time you guys play video games?" She asked, looking down at Raphael who seemed more bored then anything.

"Usually." Raph replied without looking at her. "Though, sometimes we jump Mikey if he gets really irritating." With that he smirked to himself and glanced back up at Leena. "You entertained?" His tone was a bit gruff, but she could just make out a note of amusement in his voice as he asked her the question.

"Quite." She replied back with a small smirk of her own. "You all seem to have a lot of fun together, that's for sure."

"Well, I wouldn't exactly say we have fun all the time. Right now I doubt Leo would call that fun." Raph replied, gesturing to the fact that Leo's character had just died and Mikey was now doing a backflip to avoid getting punched by Leo. Raph shook his head and chuckled, crossing his arms over his chest. "It's definitely never a dull moment around here though; something is always going on."

"It would seem so… I envy you guys…" Leena replied, quirking an eyebrow as Donatello quickly moved in front of the TV and picked up the controller. "Wonder how long it'll take for them to notice their game has been commandeered." Raph chuckled in reply and shrugged.

"Depends on how long Mikey can keep back flipping away from Leo." Looking away from Donatello and turning his full attention back to Leena; Raph gave her a curious look. "What do you mean you envy us? Cause I can point out a lot of things to envy about you, like not being a mutant stuck living underground."

"No, I meant, I envy your family, the relationship you have with each other." She replied, watching Donatello play the zombie game. "I don't have a family." She finished, causing Raph to stop short with his reply. "It gets lonely when you're by yourself all the time."

"What about your parents?" Raph asked, genuinely curious.

"I don't know… I never knew them. I grew up in an Orphanage." Leena replied honestly.

"Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to…"

"It's ok." Leena cut him off with a smile. "It's not a huge deal, it's something I came to terms with a long time ago. " Raph nodded, not really sure what to say. "I mean, I had a lot of close friends in the orphanage, but I got moved around through foster homes a lot so I never got too close to people as a result."

"None of the foster homes you stayed in kept you long term?" Raph asked, curiosity getting the better of him.

"There was one… and I really did like them, but they ended up falling into a bad financial situation and they just couldn't afford to take care of me." Leena was looking at Raph as she said this, but her gaze was far away, as she thought back to a time in her life she'd been really happy.

"Do you want a soda?" Raph suddenly interjected, pulling Leena from her thoughts. She gazed at him for a moment, before nodding her head.

"Yeah, actually, a soda sounds good, Thanks." Raphael smiled at her, and it was the first genuine smile Leena had seen out of him. Raph was usually smirking from what she could tell, but here he was smiling at her in a way that made her smile right back.

"Would you grab me one too?" Donatello interjected without looking from the game. "I'm busy trying to beat Mikey's score now."

"I'll get you a soda Donnie, you don't need to tell me why you can't get it." Raph barked back, rolling his eyes and standing up from the couch. Leena stifled a laugh and stood up too.

"I'll come with you." She offered, Raph nodding in reply and motioning her to follow. "Do you think the other's might want one?"

"They can get their own sodas, besides; I think Mikey is too preoccupied with bugging the hell out of Leo." Raph shrugged. The two of them made their way out of the main room and back towards the kitchen again, discussing their favorite types of soda. They rounded the corner leading into the kitchen and were stopped short by someone they hadn't expected to run into just yet; Splinter.

"I think cherry coke would be my favorite, I just prefer Coke to Pepsi." Leena was saying.

"I'm more partial to Coke myself, Pepsi can be too sweet if you ask me…"

"Raphael, what is going on here?" Splinter's voice cut Raph's thought short and they both looked up to see him standing next to the fridge with a cheese-sicle in hand.

"Oh, Master Splinter!" Raph greeted, surprised. "Um, I can totally explain why she's here." He obviously hadn't been prepared to talk to Splinter about Leena just yet, mostly because he'd been hoping Leo would do it.

"Please do." Splinter replied with a stern look, his gaze briefly flicking to Leena before focusing back on Raphael.

"Well you see Sensei, when we went topside for our usual patrol, we noticed the Foot Clan was on the move and we had split up to follow a few different groups moving about the city and then I happened to get ambushed by Fishface and a group of foot bots and so I tried to lose them in the back alleys and it was at this point that Leena here ran into my shell and got knocked out cold. Because Fishface was hot on my shell I knew I couldn't just leave an innocent laying there defenseless and I knew Fishface might kidnap her if he saw Leena with me at all." Raphael explained, Splinter silent and impassive through the whole explanation.

"While I'm not sure bringing this young woman here was the best idea, I do commend your act to protect an innocent." Splinter replied calmly. "And since it can't be changed, I am happy to welcome a new guest to our home. I am Splinter; it is nice to meet you." Splinter bowed formally to Leena, a smile on his face. Raph seemed to let out a sigh of relief at Splinter's response and both he and Leena visibly relaxed.

"Oh, it's very nice to meet you as well Master Splinter, I'm Leena and thank you so much for your hospitality, I am very grateful to you and your sons." Leena replied, returning the bow.

"I must admit, it is nice to have a new face around here; as I'm sure you can imagine, we don't have many guests here." Splinter chuckled. Leena smiled sweetly at him and nodded. "I'm honored to have been given the opportunity to meet such new and interesting friends." Leena replied, getting a small look of surprise from Raph at the word friend. Splinter nodded his head and moved to stand beside them.

"That's wonderful to hear. I hope my sons haven't imposed upon you too much…?"

"Not at all, I feel like I should be the one apologizing for imposing! Your sons have been nothing but generous hosts." Leena replied with a bright smile.

"Good." Splinter replied with a nod of his head. "Well, I shall go and check on the others briefly and then return to my meditation." And with that, Splinter left the kitchen. Raphael and Leena looked at each other for a moment and Raph let out a sigh of relief.

"Well, that went a lot better than I thought it would." He chuckled. "Leo is usually a bit better at dealing with Splinter and I just tend to end up in trouble with him." Leena smiled.

"It seems this time things worked out better for you then."

"Yup! Let's get those sodas and get back out there; we can go steal the controller from Donnie." Leena laughed and followed Raph to the fridge, taking the soda he passed to her.

"Sounds like a good plan to me." She replied.

* * *

_...a few hours later..._

The rest of the evening passed pleasantly, the Turtles and Leena passing the time with more video games, a movie and then a humorous game of hide and seek, which had proved that Leena, despite not being a Ninja like the guys, was the best at hiding and not getting caught.

"Honestly, you guys try to run around and show off too much while you're playing… it's like, who can be the most Ninja." Leena had laughed. "If I stood still and just watched, it was so easy to spot you rushing about to new hiding spots."

"Well that explains how you could find us… still doesn't explain why we could never find you…" Raph replied, eyeing her suspiciously.

"Yeah, how did you do it Leena? You don't even live here so how did you find such awesome hiding spots?" Mikey added, throwing his arm around Leena's shoulders.

"That, boys, shall be my own little secret." Leena said with a smirk.

"We'll definitely have to play again next time you come to visit." Leonardo smiled.

"Next time?" Leena looked at him surprised.

"What, you weren't planning to come back?" Raph asked, a little gruffly.

"Well no, I just, I didn't know you would want me to come back since you live so secretly."

"But that's why you have to come back! We don't have that many friends who can come hang out!" Mikey said cheerfully.

"You could even meet our other friend April next time!" Donatello added.

"That sounds like a great idea." Leena smiled. "Though, I don't know if I could find this place on my own, how will I get in contact with you so I can tell you to come meet me?" Leena asked.

"We have phones!" Donnie replied happily, pulling out his T-phone. "We can exchange numbers."

"Ok." Leena pulled out her own phone and quickly exchanged numbers. "Cool! Then I will be sure to stay in touch!" Leena said happily, beaming at the guys. "Thanks for everything; the past few hours have been pretty awesome." She said.

"Come on, I'll lead you back up to the surface." Raph said, motioning for Leena to follow him. She quickly hugged Leo, Mikey and Donnie, surprising them a bit with the friendly gesture, but each of them returned her hug. And with that, she was heading back up to the surface with Raphael.

As they moved through the sewers they talked and joked, mostly discussing the silliness of the night and lamenting that it wasn't often they could act so silly and carefree now that they weren't kids.

"I wish I could go back to being a kid again." Leena said. "Things were so much simpler and I didn't really have to worry about anything except whether I would be adopted or not."

"That must have been hard, not having a family to call your own and wondering if you would ever have one. I mean, my life isn't normal or perfect but I was always glad to have my brothers and our father." Raph replied sincerely.

"It could be tough, but I wasn't one to really dwell on what could be and I just, enjoyed what I had." Leena replied. "When you grow up with so little, you learn to appreciate so much more."

"Deep." Raph replied with a small smile.

"I'd like to think so." They both laughed.

At this point, they had made it to the surface, standing in an a+lley just above the manhole they had come out of, Raph really studying Leena for the first time as they gazed at one another. The first thought that came to mind as he looked at her was that she was very beautiful with her pale skin and black hair, but it was her eyes that he liked the most; they were such a deep blue and so bright. It was like there was a fire burning behind them and it made him feel like she had a wild spirit, something he could relate to.

After a few silent moments between them, Leena smiled at Raph, who returned it, and she leaned forward to hug him. At first Raphael seemed a little uncomfortable with the gesture, but after a moment he returned her hug, wrapping his arms around her waist and holding her just a little bit closer. He noticed she smelled nice; like almonds and vanilla and he quite enjoyed it.

"Thank you, truly. I haven't had so much fun in a really long time." Leena said. "I'm actually glad I ran into you." She giggled and Raph just grinned back.

"I think my brothers are pretty happy you did too." He replied.

"Are you?" She questioned teasingly.

"Well sure, it's not like it was a bad thing." Raph replied a little bashfully. Leena just giggled again. "So where do you live? I'll get you there safely." He offered, starting to walk further into the alley. "We'll have to stick to alleys and all, but you don't have to worry about anything with me here. I'll keep you safe."

"Oh, no worries, I can totally get home from here by myself." Leena replied quickly. "I wouldn't want to trouble you with that!"

"It's no trouble at all." Raph replied with a grin. "I don't get to come up here too often for leisure so this is a nice change for me anyway."

"Really though, I know the way from the main streets and it's not too far…"

"I'm not letting a young woman walk around the streets of New York by herself at this time of night; I'm walking you home." Raph replied, cutting Leena off and looking her dead in the eye. His tone suggested he wasn't going to argue about it and so Leena let out a little sigh and nodded her head.

"Alright, you win." She replied meekly.

"Good. Now what street are you on?"

As it turned out, the place Leena called home was further then she had originally let on, plus, it wasn't even much of a home. Leena had directed Raph to one New York's poorer neighborhoods and tucked among other old and decaying houses was the one that Leena called hers. The only problem, it wasn't actually Leena's at all and you could tell that it was an abandoned home with boarded up windows and doors and the graffiti that littered the walls where paint how long since peeled away.

"You're living here?" Raph said in disbelief, still staring at the wreck of a house.

"Yeah… I have been for a few months. No one has bothered with this place because it's so old and so damaged. I think the city just forgot about it or doesn't want to waste the resources on it because of the neighborhood it's in." Leena replied quietly, obviously ashamed of her circumstances.

"Leena, you're a squatter. Do you even have power or running water?" Raph turned intense gaze on her, his question sounding angrier then he meant it to. He wasn't angry at her; he just couldn't believe she had to live like this. But Leena flinched at the sound of his voice.

"No… I just stay here for shelter and a place to keep the few items I have. I go to the local homeless shelter to bathe and sometimes get food." Her voice was almost a whisper.

"You can't live here… it's not safe." Raphael said, shaking his head.

"I don't have anywhere else to go Raph." Leena replied sadly. "It's just as unsafe in the homeless shelters when you're a girl… and people will steal your things if you aren't careful."

"But you can't live here either!" Raph replied, gesturing to the house. "That's not safe! What if there's structural damage to the house, or other squatters break in? Did you ever think of that?" Raph stopped for a moment, taking a breath to calm down. He was letting his temper take over and the last thing he wanted to do was yell at Leena just because she was trying to care for herself the best way she could. Obviously life had not been so kind to her. "You're coming back to the lair with me."

"No. I'm perfectly fine here." Leena replied with a shake of her head.

"No you're not. If you want any of the things you keep in there get them now, but I'm taking you back with me." Raph said.

"No I'm not. I can take care of myself." Leena said stubbornly, crossing her arms over her chest.

"Obviously not very well if this is the best you can do for yourself." Raph snapped back, feeling immediately guilty that he'd said it when a look of pure shame crossed her face. She dropped her gaze from Raphael and looked at the ground, obviously trying to hold back the tears he managed to see just before she'd looked away. "Leena, I'm sorry, that came out wrong…" Raph began, unused to apologizing. "Just let me help you ok? This isn't a place you should be. At least at the lair you'll be safe and we can help you figure out a plan for the future… that's what a friend does right?"

"Yeah… ok." Leena replied with a small sniff. "I'll get my things…" And with that, Leena trudged up to the house, pushed aside a loose plank on the boarded up door and slipped inside. A few minutes later she returned with a small backpack. "This is everything to my name." She said, still unable to look Raphael in the eyes.

"It's nothing to be ashamed of you know." Raph replied. "You obviously were trying your best to take care of yourself." He was trying to make amends for what he'd said to her earlier. "And if you're trying at least it means you haven't given up." Leena managed a small, though sad, smile at him and shrugged her shoulders. "Well let's get back… we have to talk to Splinter about this, though I'm pretty sure he'll help; its what he does." Raph gave her a hopeful smile in return and Leena nodded her head.

"Ok." She said.

"Leena, I am sorry… I didn't mean to hurt your feelings." Raph finally said.

"I… I know." Leena began. "It just hurt so much because you were right. And I was being stubborn because I hate relying on others; I don't like being a burden. I hate that feeling." Leena replied.

"You won't be a burden. In fact, it'll be nice to have someone new hanging around, might be a good change of pace." Raph said. Leena actually smiled at that comment and with a sigh of acceptance, laced her arm through Raph's.

"Lead the way good sir."

"Will do Miss." And the two of them headed back towards the Lair arm and arm.


	4. Welcome Home

FINALLY! I am really sorry about the late post everyone! With Summer School, work, AND rehearsals for a Musical I just got cast in, the month of July was crazy busy for me. BUT, summer school is over, I have a little more free time on my hands and I'll be jumping right back into writing this story! So here is the next part, it is a little on the short side, but it's more of a transitional chapter. I can tell you, Chapter 5 will be a lot longer and things are going to start developing in terms of plot and character relationships! DUN, DUN, DUUUUUN! So please stick with me!

HUGE THANK YOU to all who have read, followed, favored and/or reviewed my little story! It means so much to me to see that people actually are enjoying what I'm writing and it helps to fuel me and my creativity as I write!

**As Always, thanks for reading and please leave me a review/comment about what you think of the story so far! I always love to hear from my readers as it is what helps keep me going! Remember, constructive comments and thoughts are welcome, flames are not!**

* * *

**Chapter 4: Welcome Home**

* * *

When Leena walked back into the lair with Raphael, she was greeted with happy surprise from the guys, who were still meandering around the main living room. It was Michelangelo who came bouncing over to her in excitement, his enthusiasm bringing an easy smile to Leena's face.

"Leena! You're back already? I thought you were going home… oh wait, I bet it was because you couldn't stand being so far away from the Mikester huh?" Mikey said, winking at her like a goof. Leena giggled at his antics and nodded her head vigorously.

"You caught me Mikey, I just can't bear to be away from you for very long at all!" she replied, stepping forward to hug him. "All that charm has just swept me off my feet."

"Oh yeah, Mikey's got it going on." Mikey crooned, sticking his tongue out a Raph as the other rolled his eyes at the two of them.

"All joking aside, Leena's gonna stay with us for a bit… her living situation isn't safe right now." Raphael explained, his gaze looking over at Leo who looked confused but nodded in understanding.

"We'll need to talk to Splinter about this first…" He began, walking over to stand beside Mikey and Leena. "But I don't think he'll be too opposed to it if your own home isn't safe." He finished, giving Leena a reassuring smile.

"I'll take care of it." Raph grunted.

"Well then, welcome home Leena!" Mikey grinned at her. Before Leena could reply, Raph stepped forward and grabbed her bag from her hand.

"Follow me." He said, before walking off in the direction of the bedrooms, Leena quickly following after him. "You can stay in the spare bedroom we have. It's a bit sparse, but there's a bed and a dresser in there for you to use." He explained.

"That's the room April usually sleeps in when she comes to visit…" Donnie called from his spot on the couch.

"It won't kill her to sleep on the couch Donnie. Heck, it would give you an excuse to set up a spare bed in your room and make her sleep in there!" Raph called back out over his shoulder.

"Ha-ha, very funny Raph. You know she always brings Casey with her when she visits these days. They'll want privacy." Donnie replied. Raph just shrugged his shoulders and kept walking.

"You're sure this will be ok, me staying here? I mean, we don't even know how long that might be at this point… I don't really have any money and I still need to get a job…"

"It's fine. Don't worry about." Raph replied, cutting her off and giving her a look that said don't bug him about it anymore.

"Ok." She replied, deciding to just let him lead the way and not question the situation. Once they got to the room she'd be taking over, Raph opened the door and led Leena in, turned on the bedside lamp and placed her bag on the bed.

"Alright, so this will be your room for now so make yourself comfortable." He said, gesturing around the room. "Luckily it's already prepared for someone to stay, but if you need anything specific, just ask me or one of my brothers and we'll see what we can do." Raphael moved through the room to stand in the doorway as he watched Leena move into the room towards the bed.

"Thank you." She said, glancing over at Raph with a small smile. "I mean, for helping me and for not telling the others about my situation… it's a bit embarrassing and I'm not really ready to talk to anyone about it…"

"It's fine. I figured that if you wanted people to know you'd say something yourself so if you ever feel like talking about it, it's your decision to make. Anyway, I'll leave you to unpack and get some sleep so I'll see you later" Raphael replied, turning to leave. But just as he was about to shut the door, he paused and turned back to look at Leena who was unzipping her bag. "All of us would be happy to listen to you if you do feel like talking about it… and we wouldn't judge you for it either." Leena looked back over at him, her gaze so intent in that moment that it caused Raphael to pause, his own attention drawn by just how blue her eyes really were as they stared at him.

After a brief pause, he cleared his throat awkwardly. "I'm not judging you for it and I can assure you my brothers definitely wouldn't either." He sounded almost a little shy as he said it, as if he didn't know how to be this sensitive with someone other than his brothers.

"I kind of felt like that would be the case…" She replied queitly. "It's just, hard for me really, to talk about it. But I promise that when I'm ready Raphael, you'll be the first person I come to." She gave him a small smile and waved to him. "I'll see you later ok?"

"Yeah, later." Raph replied quickly, turning and shutting the door behind him. He stood outside her closed door for a moment, the words 'you'll be the first person I come to' still repeating in his head. For some reason he couldn't understand, that had made him happy. Shaking himself out of his little daze, Raphael retreated to his own room for some much needed sleep, though he soon found out that sleep would be hard to come by that night.

After Raphael left, Leena was left staring at the closed door for a few minutes, her own mind trying to process everything that had happened to her literally in the course of a night. She'd met and befriended four mutant turtle brothers, had played games and ate pizza with them, had had her living situation discovered by one of them and then had been brought back to live with them in the sewer for an indefinite amount of time. It was definitely all a bit surreal to her still. But nevertheless, here she was and she would be grateful to them for their hospitality and do what she could to be less of a burden.

She returned her attention back to her small backpack and began to pull out the few things she had to put away; a few articles of clothing, a toothbrush and toothpaste, a hair brush, a small bag of hair ties, a little stuffed owl that had seen better days and an old photo of a woman hugging a laughing twelve-year-old Leena. The clothing, Leena tucked into the dresser in the room, while she left the toiletry items sitting out on top of it for use in the morning. The small owl plush she put onto the bed and the photo she tucked into the top drawer of the nightstand for safekeeping. She then returned back to her backpack and pulled out the last couple items safely tucked at the bottom of the bag; they were her most cherished possessions.

First she pulled out two leotards, one black and one pink, along with two sets of dance tights and black dance shorts. She put those into the dresser as well before she went back and pulled out a pair of nude colored lyrical half-sole shoes and then a pair of well cared for pink ballet pointe shoes. She gazed at the pointe shoes lovingly, running her fingers over them gently. After a moment of admiration, Leena tucked the dance shoes into the bottom drawer of her nightstand and then took her now empty backpack and placed on the back of a chair at the end of the bed.

Finally she let out a big yawn and pulled back the covers on the bed before she quickly stripped out of her clothes and slipped under the covers in nothing but a tank top and underwear. As she settled into the cushy bed, Leena couldn't help but smile in happiness; it had been more than a year since she'd slept in an actual bed and it felt amazing. Reaching over to the lamp, Leena clicked off the light, plunging herself into total darkness. Then, she turned over onto her side and curled up, drifting off to sleep in minutes.

For now, all was quiet in the sewers.


	5. The Bet

Here it is! The 5th chapter of our story, just as I promised! And I can also say, I'll have Chapter 6 out pretty soon as well! Anyway, not much from me today, this chapter was fun to write and as always I thank everyone who is sticking with me and reading the story! I love seeing notifications in my email that I have a new follower or someone else has favorite the story; it really does bring a smile to my face and keeps me motivated to keep writing for you all!

**As Always, thanks for reading and please leave me a review/comment about what you think of the story so far! I always love to hear from my readers as it is what helps keep me going! Remember, constructive comments and thoughts are welcome, flames are not!**

* * *

**Chapter 5: The Bet**

* * *

Leena was dead asleep when a knocking on her door roused her from slumber. Sitting up in bed and gazing around the room blearily, it took her a few moments to even realize that the knocking that woke her up was coming from her own door.

"Just a moment." She called out through a yawn, before slowly rolling out of the bed. Once on her feet, Leena rubbed the sleep from her eyes, stretched and then headed for the door. When she opened her door, Raphael stood before her with his arms crossed.

"Jeez, took you long enough to…" He paused for a moment when he noticed she was standing in front of him wearing only a tank top and underwear. "answer…"

"Sorry, I was out cold." She replied, another yawn overcoming her. "It's been a while since I slept in a bed so I was really comfortable." She chuckled lightly, smiling up at him. "What's up?" Raphael swallowed slightly, pulling his gaze away from her bare legs and back to her face.

"Uh, yeah, Mikey made breakfast for everyone so I was just coming to let you know." He said, aware of the fact that he was blushing. Luckily for him, Leena didn't seem to notice at all.

"Oh, cool! Thanks for telling me." She said happily.

"And Leena…?"

"Yeah?"

"You might want to get dressed, or at least before you come out…"

"Oh?" Leena gave him a look of confusion before she looked down at herself and noticed her own lack of clothing. "OH!" Her gaze shot straight back up to Raph's but this time, her face has flushed a bright pink. "Oh my god, I'm so sorry!" And with that she whipped back into her room, slamming the door shut behind her in her embarrassment; she had totally forgotten she hadn't worn pajamas to bed.

"W-well, s-see you in the kitchen…" Raph stammered to her through the door. He then quickly made his way to the kitchen to join his brothers. As she listened to Raphael's fading footsteps, Leena cursed herself inwardly for her own stupidity and set about getting dressed.

* * *

_...downstairs..._

Down in the kitchen Mikey was busily putting together a large breakfast as his own gesture of welcome for Leena while Donnie and Leo sat around the table talking. It was a lot later then they would usually be having breakfast, but after such a late night, Splinter had been willing to allow their usual training to take place in the afternoon so everyone could be well rested.

"Raph will still need to talk to him about Leena staying here though." Leo was saying to Donnie, who was taking a tentative sip of his hot coffee.

"Raph said he'd take care of it himself so I wouldn't worry about it too much." Donnie replied as he set his coffee mug to the side; it was still a bit too hot to drink. "Though I'm kind of surprised he's taking the initiative in all of this. He's usually the first person to distrust others and here he is going out of his way to try and help this girl we only just met…"

"I think it's admirable." Mikey interrupted, setting a large plate of pancakes down on the table. "Kind of heroic and all, cause Leena is like, a damsel in distress and Raphy is her knight in shining green armor!" He chuckled at his own little joke, though his brothers just gave him a funny look as he danced his way back over to the stove.

"As honorable as Raph's intentions are, and as much of a damsel as Leena seems to be, we should still keep a close eye on her until we can fully trust her." Leo replied with a stern look to both his brothers.

"Of course." Donnie replied with a wave of his hand. "But I'm kind of on Mikey's side with this one… Leena doesn't seem to have any ulterior motives. Besides, it WAS Raph who brought her down here to begin with; I don't really think she could plan getting knocked out and being brought to our lair." Donnie pointed out, logical as ever.

"Exactly what I was thinking dude!" Mikey chirped up, grinning back over at them before returning his attention to the scrambled eggs he was making. Leo had to suppress the urge to roll his eyes, but he decided to drop that particular subject and the conversation resumed with their usual topics of discussion. A few minutes later Raphael walked into the kitchen, looking relatively distracted as he took a seat at the table.

"Morning Raph." Leo said, gazing at the other curiously when he received no answer. "Raph?"

"Oh, yeah, g'mornin." Raph grunted, his thoughts still stuck on Leena and how nice her legs looked.

"Dude, feel like joining us at the table from whatever planet you're on?" Mikey called, setting the fresh plate of scrambled eggs on the table before shaking Raph by the shoulder.

"Quit it Mikey!" Raph snapped, smacking at Mikey who let go and dodged the hit, sticking his tongue out at his brother in the process.

"There's the cheerful Raphael we all know and love." Donnie joked, sipping at his coffee once again and smiling when it was cool enough to drink.

"Whatever." Raph replied with a roll of his eyes.

"You told Leena breakfast is ready right?" Mikey asked cheerfully, moving between the table and the stove as he brought back sausage, bacon, butter and all sorts of toppings for the pancakes.

"Yeah, I told her Mikey. She'll be down shortly." Raph replied, a light blush once again dusting his cheeks as he was reminded of Leena and her state of undress.

"Cool! Cause everything is ready to go-ooo!" Mikey sing-songed.

"Wow, it smells delicious in here!" Leena's voice filtered into the kitchen and as she stepped into sight, she was greeted by the sight of a rather large breakfast spread set out on the table. "This looks amazing! Mikey, you made all this yourself?" She asked, her eyes wide as looked over the table.

"You bet I did! I wanted to treat you to an awesome first breakfast!"

"You're such a sweetheart." Leena replied with a bright smile, heading over to the table to sit. As she took the chair between Leo and Donnie, she happened see Raphael looking at her and when he noticed she was staring back at him, they both quickly looked away from each other and blushed. Leo was too wrapped up in loading his plate with food to notice and the whole exchange went right over Mikey's head as he jumped into a chair, but Donnie had noticed was smirking to himself as he too began to load up his plate.

Soon enough they were all happily eating and chatting away about nothing in particular, Leena finding herself rather comfortable with her new found friends. She was honestly grateful to them all, especially Raph. This had been the first time in a long time she'd felt genuinely happy and content. Maybe things could really get better for her. She certainly hoped so.

After everyone was done eating, Leena was quick to jump up and help Michelangelo clean everything up, which seemed to put a little extra pep into Mikey's step as he moved about the kitchen. Raph had been the first one to slip out of the kitchen, Donnie had meandered into the living room and Leo had gone straight for the Dojo, knowing that they would be meeting with Master Splinter just as soon as Mikey was ready to go. As soon as the kitchen was cleaned up, Donnie and Mikey headed to the Dojo, Leena following closely behind as they had invited her to come watch their training. They were the last to arrive as Leo, Raph and Master Splinter were already present. Splinter smiled at Leena when she entered the Dojo and she returned it, wondering if Raph had already spoken to him about her staying with them for a while.

"It is nice to see you again Leena, please, make yourself comfortable." Splinter said, motioning for Leena to come sit on the side where she could watch. Obviously Raph had spoken to him and things were good to go. Smiling happily, she quickly took a seat to watch the training, eager to learn a bit more about her Ninja friends. "As a dancer I'm sure some of what you will see will be a little reminiscent, as Ninjistu along with many other kinds of martial arts, can be used in dancing as well." Splinter mentioned to her as the boys took their seats.

"I've heard that before." Leena mused. "I'm really excited to see it in action… maybe I'll pick up a few moves myself."

"You are more than welcome to train with us, I am happy to teach you." Splinter replied.

"Really!?" Leena replied excitedly, glancing up at him in surprise.

"It is a teacher's job to pass on his knowledge to all who are willing to learn. If you have a desire to expand on your own skills, then I would be pleased to assist you, but for today, watch, study and be prepared for tomorrow." Leena nodded her head, and like an eager little kid, focused intently on the lesson.

For getting a late start to the day, Splinter was a little more strict in his lesson then he would usually be, running his sons through their exercises a few more times than he usually would and when he'd gotten them through the usual routine, he'd split them off into pairs to spar with one another and then after a certain amount of time, he would switch them up and have them spar again. Leena watched them with rapt attention, enjoying the display of well-honed skill and stamina that the guys had; Leena was thoroughly impressed and now very excited to learn herself. Throughout the lesson she had found herself watching Raphael and his obvious power. Amongst his brothers, he was probably the strongest and it showed in his build and the obvious muscle tone he had. But she found that he was just as graceful and light-footed despite his big build and she was definitely one who could appreciate grace and agility. The only thing she found even more amazing was the way he handle his Sai and she found herself wanted to learn how to use them as well.

Though Leena couldn't tell, even watching as intently as she was, Raph was having a bit of a hard time focusing at times during their training, aware of just how much Leena was focused on him. He was split between feeling self-conscious and wanting to show off, which left him somewhere in the middle and nowhere near as on top of his game as he'd usually be. He'd suffered for his lack of concentration in the sparing mostly, Donnie and Mikey both getting a few extra hits on him that they wouldn't usually be able to land. In fact, if Raphael hadn't forced himself to focus, Donnie may have won their spar that day. As it was, he'd managed to get his head in the game at just the right time to block Donnie's oncoming attack only to counter by using Donnie's bow staff to send him flying. Finally, Splinter called an end to training.

"So, still interested in learning?" Splinter questioned Leena, a hint of amusement in his voice.

"I'm totally pumped!" She replied excitedly. "I feel just as excited to learn about this as I was when I first started dancing. I can't wait!"

"As you can see, it will be hard work and I will expect your full effort." He replied.

"Yes Sensei!" Leena replied, jumping up to bow to him. This actually brought a chuckle from Splinter, who also bowed and then excused himself from the Dojo. After Splinter had gone, the brothers all collapsed in various spots around the Dojo, Leena sitting herself down as well to chat with them.

"That was pretty awesome guys." She said with a grin.

"At least someone appreciates us!" Mikey said, sounding exhausted.

"You think you'll be able to keep up?" Raph threw out, his usual cockiness returning.

"I don't think it will be a problem." Leena replied confidently. "As a dancer, I have great core strength and stamina… it will really be learning the moves and getting down the correct technique." She mused. Raphael gave a small snort of amusement in reply, which earned him a quirked eyebrow from Leena.

"What? You don't think I'll pick up on this?"

"Not as quickly or as easily as you think you can." Raph replied.

"Oh really? And what makes you think that?"

"Raph…" Leo's voice cut Raph off, his tone one of warning to back off.

"It's ok Leo." Leena said quickly, looking back to Raph. "Well?"

"It's just, dancing and Ninjitsu are totally different, even if there are a few similarities, I don't think you'll be singing the same tune after training with us a few times is all." Raph explained, shrugging his shoulders.

"Harsh man! I bet Leena will do great!" Mikey piped up, smiling at Leena and giving her a thumbs up.

"Dancing is just as hard to learn you know. If I could stick with it all these years, I'm sure Ninjistu won't be a problem." Leena replied.

"I doubt dancing is as hard to learn as Ninjitsu." Raph scoffed.

"Actually, dancing can be quite strenuous and requires a lot of practice to perfect technique, skill and performance. It requires a certain level of grace, agility and stamina to maintain good dance form." Donnie said rather matter-of-factly, everyone in the room looking at in confusion over his sudden knowledge of dance.

"April took a few dance classes in school a while back, I just happened to hear a lot about it." Donnie replied quickly, rubbing the back of his head in embarrassment.

"I still say Ninjitsu is harder." Raph replied.

"Come on Raph, does it even matter?" Leo questioned, rolling his eyes.

"That sounds like a challenge." Leena stated, crossing her arms over her chest.

"Maybe it is." Raph shot back to her, smirking.

"Well fine. If dancing is so easy apparently, I bet it wouldn't be a problem for you to learn and whole dance and perform it correctly and with good form in about a month." She goaded.

"I bet it would be a piece of cake." Raph replied cheekily.

"Fine, you're on. You have a month to learn a dance that I will teach you." Leena said with a smirk.

"Great. But then you have a month to learn as much as you can about Ninjistu and then you'll have to spar with me and put your skills to the test; if you don't quit before then." Raph replied teasingly.

"You're on!" Leena replied, standing and thrusting her hand out towards Raph. He looked at her for a moment with a smug smile before standing up and walking over to take her hand in his. Then they shook on it.

"Shell, she's just as crazy competitive as Raph is!" Mikey laughed, jumping to his feet and heading for the door. "Well, I'm starving! I'm gonna make some food!" And with that, he bounded out of the Dojo, closely followed by Donnie who mentioned a project he was still working on his lab. Leo was the next to leave, ready to sit down and relax, possibly watch some TV, while Raph had decided he was going to get in some weight work back in room.

"Would it be ok if I used the Dojo for a little while to do some dancing?" Leena had questioned, looking between Raph and Leo.

"Yeah, that's perfectly fine. We won't be using it for the rest of the day, unless someone else decides they want to train, but any time after training you want to use the Dojo you are more than welcome to do so." Leo replied with a smile. "This is going to be your home for a while too right? So then, you have just as much right to utilize the Dojo for your training as we do."

"Thanks. I really do mean it." She said with a smile. With that, Leo turned to leave and Raph began to follow him. "And Raph?" She called, causing the red banded turtle to stop and look back. "Since my training starts tomorrow, so will yours." She said. Raphael just smirked at her and nodded his head before turning back around and heading to his room. Leena watched him go, feeling ready to totally blow him out of the water and really kick his ass in dance. Smiling to herself, she left the Dojo to go change into her dance shorts and grab her dance shoes.


	6. Just a Hacker

Yay! Chapter 6 is up now! So this is a bit of a short chapter, BUT we have the introduction of a new OC character! And it's the chapter that will start to give more form to plot and who is involved. I'm almost done with the next chapter as well, so you all may be getting a second chapter for the month of September, so keep your eyes out for that update! Anyway, not much else to say here.

**Warning: This chapter contains foul language**

**As Always, thanks for reading and please leave me a review/comment about what you think of the story so far! I always love to hear from my readers as it is what helps keep me going! Remember, constructive comments and thoughts are welcome, flames are not!**

* * *

**Chapter 6: Just a Hacker**

* * *

"GOD DAMNIT!" The sound of something crashing against the floor echoed in the cavernous room as a slew of curses in a feminine voice followed closely behind. "Every time I think I have it and it just… damn!" In one corner of the dark room a relatively bright yellow light could be seen flashing, which lit the rest of the room in an eerie glow. Sitting in front of a large, three monitor, computer setup was a young woman slumped back in her chair glaring daggers at the computer. Her dark dyed-red hair was pulled up in a haphazard topknot, while a pair of thick square rimmed, glasses sat on the ridge of her nose; bright, almond shaped, amber eyes peeking out above the rim. On the floor beside her sat a now broken keyboard and she made no move to pick it up as she sighed and leaned forward, burying her face in her hands.

"Hey! Cleo! You better not have broken another keyboard!" Rahzar growled from the shadows, stepping into the light cast by the computer screens. Noticing the broken keyboard on the ground he let out a short bark like laugh and grinned. "Looks like you already did. Master Shredder won't be happy about that. That's what, the third one this month?"

"Shut it dog breath!" Cleo snapped, whipping around to glare at Rahzar darkly. She stood up from her chair then, bending down to pick up the broken keyboard and set it on the desk. Rahzar just chuckled again as he watched her.

"Still couldn't hack the system?" He questioned a note of sarcasm in his voice.

"What the fuck do you think?" Cleo growled at him, pushing the sleeves of her too-big grey sweater back up and out of the way of her hands. "Every time I break through one firewall another one takes its place and each of them uses an entirely different coding that I have to hack." She fumed.

"You'll wind up back in the basement if you don't figure that out soon." Rahzar warned.

"I doubt it. Shredder wants to use my skills to his advantage and that won't happen with me locked in a cell." Cleo replied, feeling inclined to ignore Rahzar so she could get back to work.

"Did you find that girl?" Rahzar suddenly asked, changing the topic of the conversation.

"That is… going to be difficult."

"Why?"

"Because, the girl has vanished." Cleo replied. "Like, I can't even get a reading off the tracker I planted on her." She continued, fiddling around with the broken keyboard and trying to decide if she'd be able to fix it or not. "She went off the radar for the longest time, popped back up for a little while moving through the city and stopped in some old rundown neighborhood on the outskirts of the city. I was about to dispatch some foot soldiers with Stockman to the location but then she moved back into the city and disappeared again. She keeps wandering into a dead zone and I don't know how."

"Jeez, you're just full of good news aren't you?" Rahzar said sarcastically, crossing his arms and watching her. "Or are you failing on purpose to mess up Master Shredder's plans?" He accused.

"It's not like I can work miracles! I'm just a hacker! My strength is computers and not much else." Cleo snapped back. "Besides, I might not want to be doing this, but I don't have a death wish. There is only so much I can do with my computer skills. The main fault is yours and that stupid robotic fish. If YOU hadn't lost her to begin with we wouldn't be having this problem at all." She shot back, causing Rahzar to growl angrily.

"Watch your mouth and do your job." He barked back before stalking off back into the shadows. "I'll be reporting back to Master Shredder now." And with that, he left Cleo alone in the room once more.

"Fuckin' snitch." Cleo whispered under her breath, knowing that she needed to fix the keyboard so she could get back to work. If Rahzar was telling Shredder that she still hadn't gotten anything accomplished she knew it wouldn't be long before she'd be under fire for it. With another frustrated sigh she settled back into her chair and got to work. It would be another sleepless night and once again Cleo had to wonder how in the hell she had allowed herself to end up in this situation.


	7. Learning the Basics

Here it is for your reading pleasure, chapter 7! I'm a bit ahead of schedule so yay for that! I'm having fun with this story more and more, and I've come up with some awesome ideas for the main plot involving both Leena and Cleo.

**As Always, thanks for reading and please leave me a review/comment about what you think of the story so far! I always love to hear from my readers as it is what helps keep me going! Remember, constructive comments and thoughts are welcome, flames are not!**

* * *

**Chapter 7: Learning the Basics**

* * *

The next day dawned bright and early for Leena, who was woken up by the enthusiastic knocking of Michelangelo, and a happy, though rather loud "Good morning sunshine!" when she opened her door. (Fully clothed in PJs this time.)

"Morning Mikey." Leena replied with a yawn.

"Gotta wake up and get moving! Breakfast is cereal and fruit today and then it's straight to the dojo for training!" The youngest turtle trilled brightly. "Hurry up!" And with that, he went bouncing off to the kitchen, leaving Leena to wonder where he got all his energy and wishing he'd share some. Just as she was turning back into her room, Raphael passed by on his way to the kitchen and gave her a knowing grin.

"Mornin', ya ready for training?"

"You bet I am!" Leena replied, all thoughts of being tired forgotten in the face of competitiveness. "Hope you're ready for dancing?"

"How ready do I need to be for that? It's nowhere near as hard as our training is." Raph replied dryly.

"Sorry to disappoint you, but you'll be regretting that comment later." Leena smirked.

"Doubt it." Raph shrugged with his own smirk. "See you in the kitchen then." And with that he left. Leena rolled her eyes at his retreating back and slipped back into her room to change. It only took her about ten minutes to change into a leotard and dance shorts, brush her hair into a ponytail and brush her teeth. As she started for the kitchen she remembered her dance shoes and ran back to get her half- sole ones. As she was on her way back, she ran into. Leonardo who smiled warmly, if a bit shyly, at her.

"Was just coming to check on you." He said, falling into step beside Leena.

"I guess I should get up earlier in the mornings if I took too long this morning..." She laughed.

"You weren't taking too long, just wanted to make sure you'd have time to eat. Sensei is very strict when it comes to being on time for morning training. I'm always the one to round everyone up since I get up early enough to meditate in the morning as well." Leo explained.

"Wow, that must take a lot of discipline and passion." Leena replied with relative surprise. "I mean, I can barely get myself up early in the morning even when I want to!" She laughed again and Leo joined her.

"It does, but I don't mind; it really is my passion to be the best Ninja I can be."

"Well, I think that's pretty admirable." Leena said. "And thanks, for thinking to come check on me; it was really sweet of you." She smiled brightly at him and Leonardo blushed lightly and tried to hide it with a sheepish wave of his hand.

"Like I said, kinda my job so it wasn't a big deal."

"Still, it's nice that you do it." Leena laughed. "Just take the compliment and say 'you're welcome!'" Leo laughed and nodded his head.

"Ok, ok, I get it. You're welcome." The blue banded turtle blushed again.

"Now, breakfast!" Leena said, walking into the Kitchen, Leonardo close behind her.

* * *

_...an hour later..._

Breakfast came and went in a similar manner as the day before, though somehow Mikey and Raph ended up in a burping contest that left Leena laughing, Leo shaking his head at the display of poor manners in front of a woman, and Donnie smirking while he pretended to fiddle with a gadget he'd brought from the lab.

Finally they made their way into the Dojo, Leena somehow channeling Mikey's personality as she bounced on the balls of her feet, practically bursting with her excitement.

"Ohayou." Splinter greeted them as they entered the turtles and Leena bowing to him in reply after they had formed a single file line before him. With a nod of his head, they took a seat on Dojo floor and waited expectantly. "As you all know, Leena will be joining us in our morning training, so after I set you to task, I will be focusing my attention on teaching her the basics." Splinter informed them, his sons nodding. "Let us begin." And the morning training commenced.

Leena picked up on the basic movements and disciplines much faster than Splinter had anticipated, even with her dance training, but it pleased him to know she was a fast study and a hard worker. He had her merely repeating basic exercises every young Ninja needed to master and unlike his sons often did, she did not complain but absorbed everything he said with rapt attention; she was eager to learn and Splinter knew she would excel quickly.

"Ya-me!" Splinter called out to his sons, who were in process of working on Taijutsu. The boys quickly ceased their sparring and fell into line once more, Leena doing the same as Splinter moved to pace in front of them. "Good work today my sons. You showed great discipline in staying on task while I worked with Leena." Michelangelo grinned at Splinter as he said this. "Tomorrow we will work on more hand to hand sparring with a focus on defense, redirecting and avoidance so that Leena may join us, I think she will manage to hold her own." Splinter's eyes sparkled with a bit of mischief as he regarded his students.

"Sensei… isn't that a bit too soon for Leena?" Leo questioned his look one of worry.

"Not at all. In fact, Leena was much more attentive yesterday then I had anticipated and she has already begun to pick up the beginning techniques. I want to challenge her and see what she can or can't do tomorrow so I know where I should really start with her training." Splinter mused, reaching up to stroke his thin beard. "That is all for today; you are dismissed." Splinter bowed to them all, which was returned as the turtles and Leena stood up. They watched Splinter leave, Donnie close on his heels as he wanted to get back to the lab to continue the work he had started earlier and Mikey heading out shortly after calling dibs on the game station. Raph hung back, as Leena had requested, while Leo took a seat back on the floor having decided he wanted to watch Raphael learn how to dance.

"Should prove entertaining." He grinned at his hot headed brother; Raph just rolled his eyes.

"Will probably be boring instead." He shot back, crossing his arms.

"It'll be interesting to say the least." Leena threw in, grinning at them both as she slipped on her half-sole shoes. "I'm actually going to be teaching you a Waltz, since I think it'll be the easiest partnering dance to pick up and won't require a huge knowledge on dancing right off the bat. The Waltz was the first ballroom dance style I learned myself." Leena explained, standing when she was set. "You ready to learn how to partner? It's a lot different from sparring or working as a team in Ninjitsu." She smirked at Raph.

"Can't be more difficult though." Raph chuckled, walking over to her.

"I think you'll be surprised." Leena replied, reaching out to take Raphael's hands in her own. "I'll start by teaching you proper dancing form for the Waltz and then we'll move onto the basic steps and the proper counting for them." Leena explained, smirking when Raph raised his brow at her. "Once you get a solid grasp on those few things, we'll move on to proper technique and how to be a good partner."

"When will I actually learn to dance?" Raph chuckled.

"Once we get through the beginning basics and you understand the terminology associated with Waltz." Leena replied with a smirk.

"Sounds a bit difficult to me." Leo commented from his spot on the floor.

"No one asked you." Raph shot at him. Leo raised his hands in mock surrender but couldn't help the smile that slipped across his face.

"Alright, let's begin. First thing's first; I'm going to show you the proper hold for a Waltz." Leena said, guiding Raph's right hand to her waist and taking his left in her right and pulling it up. "This is the posture you must hold when you dance the Waltz."

"The entire time you're dancing?" Raph asked incredulously.

"Yes. It requires a good amount of muscle endurance." Leena replied.

"No problem. I have plenty of endurance." Leena simply smiled at him in response.

* * *

_...two hours later..._

"I can't believe my arms actually feel sore." Raph complained as he walked out of the Dojo with Leena.

"Waltzing uses different muscles in your arms, legs and feet that you don't use as often in Ninjistu training." Leena laughed. "I told you it wasn't going to be as easy as you thought it would."

"Yeah, yeah, whatever. Once I have the basics down I bet it'll be a cinch." Raph replied. "But for now, I'm gonna get some lunch and then go work on my bike."

"Bike?" Leena questioned in surprise.

"Yeah, the Shell cycle, she's my babe." Raph grinned. "I've had her for a few years and I'm always tuning her up and making sure she runs smooth." He explained.

"You have a motorcycle?"

"I believe that's what I said."

"But, why?" Leena continued.

"Why not?" Raph chuckled.

"Well, do you even get to take it out for a ride? I mean, I don't think you could really go unnoticed by people. A giant turtle riding a motorcycle is bound to draw attention." Leena said with a small laugh, trying to picture what that would look like.

"I usually only go out at night and I wear a jacket to cover my shell and a helmet… so far it's been fine." Raph shrugged his shoulders.

"Huh. That's pretty cool." Leena said with a smile.

"Maybe I'll take you out for a ride sometime?"

"That actually sounds like a lot of fun! I'd love that." Green eyes met blue and the two smiled at each other.

"Ah, anyway, I'm still hungry so yeah. Gonna go get some food." Raph said suddenly, turning abruptly and heading off in the direction of the kitchen. He could feel his heart beating in his chest and it was a strange feeling that left him a bit breathless. He really couldn't deny how pretty Leena was but he had to wonder why this happened every time he caught her looking at him. It was a very new feeling for Raph and he didn't really know how to handle it.

"Oh, ok." Leena replied, waving at red-banded turtle as he walked off quickly, wondering if she'd done something to cause Raph's sudden retreat.

"Don't mind him; he can be a bit anti-social sometimes." Leena turned to see Leonardo walking towards her from the direction of his room. Leo had stuck around to watch the dance lesson for about twenty minutes before Leena had asked him to leave. Raph had tripped over his feet for the second time learning the basic steps and Leo had had a hard time not laughing; it had irritated Raphael to the point of distraction. Now, Leonardo was standing in front of her with a wide, warm smile, which Leena returned. "Did you finish your dance lesson then?" He questioned.

"Yeah, and Raph has now learned that dancing isn't going to be as easy as he first thought." Leena laughed.

"I'm not surprised." the leader said with another easy smile. "So what are you going to do with the rest of your day?"

"I'm not really sure… I was thinking about doing a little of my own dance practice and then I may get some lunch. Are you on your way to the Dojo?"

"I was just going to do so meditation, so if you want to practice your dancing some more go right ahead. I'll be in a corner anyway and your dancing won't disturb me." Leo replied.

"Perfect." Leena replied. And with that, the two of them headed back into the Dojo. However, unbeknownst to Leena, once she had begun to dance, Leo ended up finding it very hard to concentrate on meditation at all; he became much more interested in watching Leena and the beautiful way she danced. But Leo wasn't the only one who was watching. Peeking into the Dojo from a crack in the door was Raphael, who had stopped on his way to his room when he'd heard Leena and Leo heading back to the Dojo. In the moment both brothers were watching Leena, they had both unknowingly agreed that she was absolutely beautiful.


	8. Getting to Know You

**HEY ALL, I'M BACK! **

Oh boy, it has been a while and I am sooo sorry to all my followers for that! My life got a little crazy and chaotic and I was dealing with a lot of personal stuff, BUT school is over this week, summer is coming and I will have a LOT more free time to spend writing and loving on my TMNT boys! I'm soooo excited and I have a few new ideas I'll be adding to this story line so be prepared for some interesting plot suprises! So stick with me this summer and let's see where this all goes! For now, here's the newest installment of my story! Chapter 8! Enjoy everyone! Oh, and please, leave me comments if you can; I love knowing what you guys think!

* * *

**Getting to Know You**

* * *

"Hajime!" Splinter called out, signaling Leena and Leonardo to begin their sparring. Since Leena was still so new to this and Splinter didn't want her to get hurt, he'd paired her up with Leo for the entire lesson, knowing his eldest son would have both the skill and patience to teach Leena properly in the basic techniques of hand to hand sparring; though he'd been paying close attention the entire time they had been practicing.

The moment Splinter had told them to begin, Leena and Leo had circled each other, watching each other's movement closely. Suddenly Leena ran forward, charging Leo head on, but as she drew close, Leonardo did a quick backflip moving to the right and then dropping low to sweep a leg under Leena as she ran. Leena saw the counter attack and dodged Leo's leg, diving toward the floor over his leg and tucking into a roll before jumping up again, her back to him. Leonardo saw an opportunity and ran at Leena, but she quickly spun and blocked his grab with her arm, using the momentum of the block to spin away. It was more like a spin she would use while dancing but in this instance, it had been useful in the sparring.

Back and forth the two went, mostly utilizing moves to either block or avoid one another, which had been the main focus of the lesson for Leena. Luckily, despite Leo having many more years of training in Ninjitsu then she had, her dance training had paid off by supplying her with quick reflexes and really good perception of movement. It was because of it that Leena had managed to keep Leo from putting her into a hold yet. Raphael, Donatello and Michelangelo watched on from the sidelines, waiting to see how long Leena would be able to keep it up and all of them rather surprised that she had avoided Leonardo for so long; she was proving to be a lot more skilled then any of them had initially thought she would be.

Ya-me!" Finally Splinter called the sparring to an end and Leena and Leo both came to a stop where they stood and turned to face Splinter. Leena was breathing heavily, but there was a smile on her face as she turned to face the others, her smile turning into a smirk of pride when her gaze landed on Raphael. The hot head just smirked back and shrugged his shoulders like it was no big deal, which Leena rolled her eyes in reply. "You both did wonderful." Splinter commented after a moment, pulling Leena's attention away from Raph. "Leonardo, I am pleased with the way you taught Leena today and even more pleased with how well it showed in your spar. Leena, I am happy to see that you paid attention well in your lesson and look forward to furthering your skills. That will be all for today my students, you are dismissed." Together the five of them bowed to Splinter and watched him leave, Leonardo turning to Leena with a wide grin afterwards.

"That was much better than I had expected!" He told her, earning a wide smile in return from her.

"I really thought you were going to get me for a little while, but I'm kind of proud that I managed to avoid you for so long."

"I think some of your interesting dance like moves threw me off. Though, that worked in your favor quite well."

"Or it could be beginner's luck." Raph threw in, smirking cheekily at Leena.

"Or she's just naturally good at it." Leo replied somewhat defensively with a small glare aimed at his younger brother. Raphael stared back in slight surprise, unsure of how to react to his brother's biting response. Leena seemed somewhat taken aback as well and suddenly the atmosphere in the dojo seemed to grow a bit uncomfortable. Mikey raised an eye ridge as his gaze moved between Leo and Raph; he was wondering who would make the next move and if there would be a need to intervene. However, it was Donnie who broke the tension with a sudden awkward chuckle before stepping forward to place a light hand on Leo's shoulder.

"It could be both if you think about it." Donnie offered up with a grin. "But I think Raph was just teasing her; you should have seen the way she harped on him yesterday during their dancing lesson!" This seemed to do the trick as the sudden tension that had built up dissipated within a few moments and Leo was stepping back and shaking his head.

"You're right Donnie." He looked at Raph with a sheepish grin. "Sorry Raph; I should have realized you were just teasing her."

"It's whatever. No big deal." Raph shrugged, still watching Leo curiously as the fearless leader took his leave of the dojo along with Donnie.

"Duuuuude. For a second there, things got way weird." Mikey chuckled, throwing his hands back behind his head.

"I would agree…" Leena chimed in, her gaze also still looking off to where Leo had exited the dojo. She had been rather shocked by Leo's sudden defensiveness over her. It wasn't something any of them had expected.

"Let's just get to the dance lesson." Raph gruffed, obviously over whatever weirdness had just transpired.

"Good idea. I'll catch you two later!" Mikey said, giving them both a thumbs-up before bounding out of the dojo. Leena looked back to Raph with a raised eyebrow, deciding she'd let the whole thing drop and focus on the dance lesson.

"Well, let's get started then!" She said, walking over to Raph and holding out her hand. "We'll go over posture again. I want to make sure you can hold form correctly before I actually go about having you learn an actual dance." She smiled. The hothead took her hand with a smirk and stood. Pulling Leena to him, her body falling against his plastron, Raph wrapped his other hand around her waist and held her close, smirking down at her as she laughed. "Glad to see you're so enthusiastic!"

"Gotta be if I'm gonna win our bet." Raph replied.

"'If' being the optimal word here." Leena smirked back. They stayed like that, pressed against one another and swaying back and forth as Leena laughed. Raphael was smiling without reserve, enjoying the way her soft body felt pressed against his hard one. More and more he was enjoying his time spent with Leena and slowly it had begun to be more about getting to know her and being near her then about winning the bet; not that he would tell her that.

Finally Raphael gave her a quick dip, which caused her to squeal in surprise and laugh some more, before he stepped back a little and adjusted his hold on her to be the correct form she had taught him. After catching her breath and calming her laughter, Leena waited while Raph adjusted and then looked over the hold, nodding in approval. "Good, you remembered what I said last time!" She said happily.

"Only cause you repeated it like fifty million times." The hothead snorted. "Kinda hard to ignore you after that many repeats; not to mention your voice, which gets a bit more shrill every time you do repeat something." Leena glared playfully at him, smacking his arm lightly in response and receiving a chuckle in return.

"Yeah, yeah. Let's start doing the basic Waltz I showed you and make sure you hold form. If you can do that for a solid ten minutes, we'll move on." Leena instructed. She pulled away from him, going over to the iPod and speaker dock Donnie had lent them to use for the dancing, Leena turned it on and started an instrumental of a song on the iPod that matched the tempo she wanted for their Waltz. Moving back to Raph, Leena allowed him to take up form again. "Alright, five, six, seven, eight!" And Raph began to lead Leena in a basic box step.

* * *

"I think we're ready to move on to something a little more difficult!" Leena said triumphantly, lying on her back and looking at Raph who sat beside her, leaning back on his hands. They had practiced the basic box step and proper form for most of the lesson, though Leena had been true to her word and had taught Raph how to move in a wide sweeping circle with the box step. She had even ventured into teaching him how to turn her under his arm while staying in time and keeping form; that had thrown the red banded turtle just a little bit and by the end of the lesson he was still having a little trouble with it, though Leena said he was doing just fine.

"You're a tough teacher." Raph mused, looking down at her with a smirk. "I actually feel worn out from that lesson." They both chuckled. "So, what is it about dance that you love so much?" Raph questioned her after a moment. Leena looked up at him with a thoughtful expression on her face as she thought about it.

"Honestly, I love how expressive dance can be. I can have a hard time expressing how I feel through words so for me, dance has always allowed me to explore and express my emotions to others in a way that words couldn't. It was also a creative outlet for me to focus my time on when I needed an escape from things. Growing up in an Orphanage could often be difficult and stressful; but I could always look forward to the dance lessons I had once or twice a week at the local community dance center. They had a program that gave the girls at our home free ballet lessons. As I grew up, the dance teacher there saw potential in me and offered me free dance lessons in exchange for coming in and helping out as an assistant in the studio from time to time. That's how I learned Ballroom and Lyrical." Leena explained, her eyes lighting up as she thought back to the fun she had learning to dance. "I took lessons in all sorts of dance styles at that studio over the years, and I even signed up for the dance team as an extracurricular during high school just so I could dance more!" She was becoming more enthusiastic as she spoke. "Every time I mastered a new dance style or a difficult move I would feel so proud of myself and that accomplishment would make me want to work even harder and become even better. I started to dream of being a dancer on Broadway, or becoming part of a travelling troupe; it seemed like an actual possibility for a little while when I was about fourteen and I was taken in by the Carters! My mom was so supportive of my dancing; she bought me this beautiful brand new pair of ballet slippers as a gift the first day they brought me home…" Leena stopped talking suddenly, an abrupt silence filling the air and causing Raphael to look down at her to see why she had stopped talking.

Leena was crying. Tears were slowly slipping from her eyes and rolling down her face in a silent show of sorrow. Leena seemed rather surprised by her own tears and sat up startled, her hands wiping at them as they fell.

"Hey, are you ok?" Raph asked, sitting up and looking at her in concern.

"I… I don't know." Leena replied. "I mean, I felt fine and then all of a sudden I was crying and I guess it was because I started to talk about the Carters…" Her voice trailed off again as a few new tears slipped down her face. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to kill the mood." She said after a moment, her voice trembling slightly even as she tried to smile like it didn't matter.

"You don't have to apologize for crying Leena." Raphael replied softly, reaching out and wiping a stray tear from her cheek. He seemed to realize what he'd done though and retracted his hand quickly, feeling slightly embarrassed that he'd made such an intimate gesture towards her. Leena hadn't seemed to mind though, placing one of her hands over his in response and smiling at him, her tears finally subsiding.

"Thank you."

"Do you want to talk about it?"

"…Not…yet." Leena replied after a moment. "I need a little time to think about why I reacted the way I did. I honestly thought I had come to terms with that part of my life years ago…" She sighed.

"Sure, I underderstand." Raph said softly.

"So anyway, why don't we go grab something to drink and you can tell me what you like about being a ninja!" Leena said, changing the subject and trying to lighten the mood again.

"Well, the first reason I like being a Ninja is because it's awesome and I can kick ass." Raph replied, taking her queue and switching to the new topic without any hesitation. He stood up and offered Leena his hand to help her up. She laughed at his response and took his offered hand, allowing him to easily pull her to her feet. They grabbed the iPod and the speaker dock from the corner of the dojo and left the room discussing why being a Ninja was so awesome, leaving the sadness of only moments earlier behind.

* * *

The rest of the day had passed in relative calm and uneventfulness, Leena forgetting about her strange moment of sadness as she spent time with the turtles. The group of them had had lunch together before gathering in the main room to have a Soul Caliber competition and it was hours later, as night began to fall, that Leena was left alone while the boys went out to scout the streets to make sure all was quiet.

"It's also a chance for us to get out and stretch our legs and get some fresh air." Leonardo had explained. "We usually stick to the rooftops and alleys so as not to be seen and we just, keep an eye on things."

"You mean like superheroes?" Leena had laughed.

"We're totally superheroes!" Mikey had exclaimed. "Dude, we kick bad guy butt!"

"Only when we need to." Leonardo had interjected. "We don't look for fights we just, step in when we feel a situation has gotten out of hand."

"It's usually just petty theft and gang related stuff." Donnie had chimed in. "Nothing to be worried about."

"Well then, I'll just relax and hog the TV while you're all out being vigilantes." Leena had replied with a smile.

"We'll be back in a couple hours." Leo said, starting to head out.

"Don't get too bored without us." Raph had added, quickly following his older brother out. Donnie and Mikey were quick to follow and soon enough, Leena was alone in the Lair. Technically Splinter was there, but he was in the dojo meditating and Leena didn't want to bother him while he was busy. Meditating did sound relaxing though, and it wasn't something she had ever done before. Finally, curiosity won out and Leena found herself standing in front of the dojo door debating if peeking in on Splinter would be rude or not.

"Come in Leena." Splinter suddenly called from inside the dojo, startling Leena. She was surprised he'd known she was there without her saying a thing. She slid open the dojo door then and stepped inside, bowing low to Splinter before turning to slide the door closed again. "Come and sit beside me." Splinter said, patting the space beside him. "Your aura seems troubled, is everything ok?" Damn that rat was perceptive Leena thought as she moved to sit beside him.

"I'm ok now…" Leena began. "I just, cried about something earlier today that I had thought I had come to terms with a long time ago." She sighed, looking to Splinter with a small smile.

"Sometimes in life, even the things we have learned to live with can have a way of sneaking up on us and causing distress. Just because you have moved on does not mean you have forgotten. Pain can be constant, even for old wounds." Splinter replied softly, offering Leena a small smile in return. "I find that meditation can often help with this. It can center your emotions and allow you to explore your subconscious mind and learn more about yourself then you thought you could." He explained. "Why not try with me?" He then offered, earning an eager nod from Leena. "First, find a comfortable position to sit in and relax your body." Splinter instructed, waiting as she did as he said. "Once you are comfortable, you must relax your mind, let go of the worries and stress you hold on to and clear your mind of thought; you must allow yourself to be at peace with the world around you and your own inner world as well." Splinter watched as Leena took a few relaxing breaths and closed her eyes, visibly relaxing her body as she tried to do as he had instructed and clear her mind. However, after a few minutes of trying to make her mind focus and be free of thought, Leena let out an exasperated sigh and opened her eyes, glancing over to see Splinter smiling at her.

"I can't clear my thoughts away… every time I try and I think about having to clear my mind but then some random thought always pops up and before I know it, I'm practically arguing with myself without even meaning too!" She said.

"It is a not an easy task to master. Like the skills of the Ninja, it takes practice, patience and perseverance; you will have to work on it."

"The three Ps of Ninja lifestyle!" Leena said with a grin, making Splinter laugh.

"That's one way to put it!" He continued to smile down at her, reaching out to touch the top of her head. "Practice meditation in your free time; work on just learning how to clear your mind first. Once you have achieved that, mediation will come much easier and I will guide you from there." He gave her head a pat, in an effort to comfort her as a parent would their child and Leena smiled warmly in response. It had been a long time since she had felt the care and support of a parental figure and it was nice to have it, even if for a moment.

"I'll work hard Sensei." She replied with a nod of her head. Splinter returned the nod and together, the two of them went back to individual meditation; or at least, Leena worked on it.


End file.
